


cloud strife's "bodyguard services"

by devilfic



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Other, Sadness but only a little bit, cloud's just trying to do his job, set around chapter 8, you'd just like to have someone near
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24938491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilfic/pseuds/devilfic
Summary: you’re paying him to escort you safely to your mother’s grave, but he’s just hoping you’ll actually make it there in one piece.
Relationships: Cloud Strife/Reader, Cloud Strife/You
Comments: 4
Kudos: 111





	cloud strife's "bodyguard services"

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted to tumblr.

“If you don’t slow down, the hedgehog pies will get to you before I do.”

“Maybe if you didn’t carry around such a big sword, you’d be able to keep up!”

It probably wasn’t in your best interest to sass the man who would be single-handedly keeping you alive for your trip, but you’d already put in your down payment for his services before you’d left Sector 5. If he wanted to leave you here, he’d have to refund you. Maybe. You actually weren’t too sure if he had a refund policy. You probably should’ve checked on that before- “Watch out!”

The hiss of Cloud’s voice and the actual hiss of his buster sword bring you out of your reverie as a wererat is sliced cleanly through right before your very eyes, its insides coating the muddy toes of your boots and sending you reeling back with disgust. Cloud’s shoulders aren’t heaving from exertion – no, a wererat was like a spec of dirt to him – but rather from the speed he’d had to pick up in order to get to you in time. Otherwise, that thing would have clawed your face off and  _ then _ some. You feel incredibly embarrassed as Cloud glares over his shoulder at you, “This  _ big sword _ just saved you from getting lobotomized with a rat claw.” 

You mutter a timid “thank you” and decide that yeah, you probably should stick closer to him, and so you fall into quiet step beside the ex-SOLDIER. You only knew that he was a friend of Aerith’s, a girl you’d frequently crossed paths with since childhood, and of his past working for Shinra. He was offering merc jobs for a pretty affordable price, willing to bend to any possible requests (within reason), and you’d chewed on the idea night and day until the anniversary of your mother’s death arrived.

Your mom passed when you were only 14, naturally and peacefully. Since you were younger, you were always accompanied by the sweet people in town to go visit her grave on her birthday and the anniversary of her death, but after a few years of it, you’d moved away in hopes of starting a new life somewhere that didn’t constantly remind you of her. By the time you’d come back, not two years after leaving, the paths there just grew more and more dangerous and it became a death sentence to travel through at all on your own. Of course, those who were strong enough made it through just fine, but you… well. 

You didn’t want to burden anyone, anyway. It was for the best.

The only reason Aerith hadn’t accompanied you both was because she had some errands of her own to carry out today. She was usually the one who’d protect you if anything were to come out of the blue on your way to the graveyard, but with her out of the picture and most people in similar situations, you were short on time and luck.  You’d only settled on paying Cloud to bring you when he’d been walking in town with Aerith, finishing up whatever odd jobs he’d taken on. You’d seen him chasing after cats yesterday, and then after the orphanage kids the day before, and perhaps that was the only reason you’d mustered up the courage to even approach him in the first place.

Cloud had given you a simple price and no pity when you’d told him you required an escort to her grave, only requesting that you stick beside him for the entirety of the trip. He said he’d do whatever you asked once the money was in his hands. The “no pity” part was exceptionally nice.

“How long are you staying in town for?” You decide to ask, barely a minute passing since he’d cut down your would-be attacker. 

“Depends.” He deadpans. You would have thought he was still annoyed with you if it wasn’t for the fact that he talked to everyone like that. Well… he probably _was_ still annoyed with you.

All that you can hear is the crunching of the dirt underneath your shoes and distant wails of monsters you feared to encounter alone. The walk was going to be long, but you didn’t exactly have a shopping cart of conversation starters under your belt for someone who looked like they were perpetually elsewhere all the time. He looked perfectly fine just walking in silence. You would’ve been too, maybe, if it was any other day. “Aerith seems pretty smitten with you. It’s really cute. I haven’t seen her like that in a long time.”

Cloud scoffs, and whether it’s from disbelief or irritation, you can’t tell, “It’s not like that.”

“You sure?” You gently prod. You have to admit that you like the way his skin burns under your duress. 

“Incredibly. I’m her… bodyguard, nothing more.” 

“Not even a friend?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be telling me where to go?”

You jump at the realization that you’ve just been walking aimlessly, but you knew these paths like the back of your hand. You’re both back on track in a couple of minutes. You haven’t forgotten your choice of conversation topic, though. “Are you single then?” Cloud grumbles something that feels like a “yes, leave me alone”, and so a smile begins to come to your face. “There’s no way! With a face like yours, surely you’ve got admirers down the block every time you land somewhere. Even a frown like that couldn’t turn ‘em away.”

“I’m not interested in stuff like that right now.” Cloud presses, giving you a look that tells you he won’t be swayed. He allows you the privilege to look into his eyes a few seconds longer than necessary, and by the time he’s looked away, you've imagined a drink made out of the colors in them. You wonder if he’d be pissed if you named it after him.

You let the silence hang just long enough for you to gather the ingredients in your head together, wonder if Aerith could point you in the direction of some flowers that could match the particular shade of chocobo blond his hair had going on, when you come across another enemy. This time, it’s a rather spirited gorger. This one gives you pause. Cloud is before you in an instant, sword raised in front of him as the ugly thing’s mouth gapes at you both. Then, with breakneck speed, it lunges at Cloud.

He doesn’t defeat this one as fast as the wererat and for good reason: gorgers were big and disgusting things that, if given the chance, would latch onto you like a leech and suck the very life out of you in seconds. Cloud has to be very careful. As he’s dealing significant damage to the thing, you notice the calculated precision in which Cloud fights. He’s equal parts defense and offense, striking at just the right times for particularly intense blows. He’s moving in and out but always taking care not to get too close to you. 

When he finally finishes it off, you have to ask, “Is this cathartic for you?”

Cloud frowns. He seems to be thinking something that he doesn’t let reach his eyes. “It’s what I’m good at.”

“You look so concentrated,” you hum, recalling the stillness of his expression in battle, “like the end result does something for you.”

“Yeah, it keeps me alive. Come on.” He steps over the grotesque gorger’s corpse to signal for you to get back on your journey. 

“I mean, I get that, but it’s like it does something else for you.” 

“I told you it’s what I’m good at.”

But is it the only thing? 

You keep thinking on your observation as the graveyard begins to come into your line of sight. There’s a big, metal door there that you remember going in and out of plenty of times before. Walking forward, you lead him through, cautiously looking around. You’d seen your fair share of venomantises around and if gorgers made your heart beat fast, venomantises stopped it altogether. Literally.

Cloud keeps pressed to your side, sword raised and eyes darting around to every nook and cranny of the place. When it seems like the coast is clear, you begin to approach the graves. You find her stone as always, but are hurt to find that in your absence, weeds and things had begun to grow over her headstone. You gently pull away the brush until you can clearly see her name engraved on the stone, as well as little carvings of your own name around it from when you were younger. You kneel before it and feel Cloud behind you, looming, watching for any signs of danger. For a moment, it’s like he’s not even there.

It’s… cold. 

After some time passes of you mainly saying your greetings and mentioning how long it’d been since you’d last seen her, you look over at Cloud who seems to have settled down. He’s reattached his sword to his back and stands, facing away from you, with his arms crossed along his chest. You really would hate to bother him, but…

“Cloud?” You ask. You just barely notice the way he stiffens. Glancing over at you, he peeks at the stone you’re sat in front of before looking back at you. “Would you mind sitting with me? Since the coast is clear?”

You can see the want to protest. It’s written in his eyes down to the growing frown on his lips. Then, as if he’d somehow been broken down by the pleas in your gaze, he drops down next to you and plunges his sword into the dirt (far away from the actual graves, thankfully). 

Something about the warmth he gave off calms you down. You feel a bit awkward talking to your mother alone as most of the people who tagged along would talk with you. Having Cloud’s presence was nice, but you were starting to feel he might feel awkward being here. After all, you’d commanded him to keep you safe, and yet you were also asking him to sit with you like… like a... 

“How… long has it been?” You’re shocked out of your thoughts by the sudden question. Cloud isn’t looking at you but rather at the open space, eyes flitting this way and that at every sound.

“Seven years, I think. Her birthday is coming up in the winter.” You reply quickly, “I remember the day but the years sort of slip out of reach.”

A hum, “Right. I get that.”

You weren’t totally convinced he did, or maybe it was that whatever he said he understood seemed to be eons away from the little world you'd found yourself in, but it wasn’t your place to pry. You imagined there were a lot of things SOLDIERs went through to get in their position, so you could only wonder what it took for one to defect. You instead pick at stray pieces of grass, twirling them between your fingers. “She used to work at the same bar I do now. Sometimes, Aerith’s mom would drop her off there and we’d play in the corner until she came back to get her. My mom would make us mini drinks. Ones that looked like the ones on the menu but, you know, no alcohol.” You chuckle, “We couldn’t tell the difference, though. What we thought got us drunk was just a sugar high.”

Cloud snorts. You take that as a sign to keep going.

“I used to live up in Sector 8 for a while after I turned 18. It was kinda hard to get by but I made it work. I came back when I heard… packed up and started life here again.”

“Did you like it there?”

You ponder on your answer, “Sometimes… sometimes. Aerith would always visit. I think I liked it more because I felt like I was getting somewhere good if I lived there, you know? The truth is that nothing had actually changed. There were just more people and more bills to pay.”

“Aerith mentioned your bartending skills were wasted up there,” Cloud recalls, “Did your mom teach you a lot just from watching?” 

“Mostly everything!” You giggle.

Cloud says nothing about that, though you do notice that his lips look much less frowny now. He fiddles with the baggy fabric of his cargo pants, listening to the spring wind rush through. “Reminds me of a friend. In Sector 7. She bartends… among other things.”

You perk up at the new information, scooting a little closer to the mercenary, “Really? I’d love to meet her someday! Maybe we can have a competition: whoever gets Cloud wasted the fastest wins!” 

“That sounds like an ongoing competition.”

“Oh yeah, it’ll span  _ days _ .”

“Not interested.”

“Well, will you at least let me make a drink for you before you leave? You’ll have to alert me in advance so I can whip up something special. I’ve got an idea for something already.”

The mercenary looks over his shoulder at you, eyebrows drawn in to closely study you. Whatever he was thinking, he seemed particularly confused by it. Surely, he’d be used to an overabundance of friendliness at this point if he was friends- or, er, a bodyguard to Aerith. He couldn’t be puzzled by you being  _ nice _ to him, could he?

“Why do you care? You met me two hours ago.” Huh. He could be after all.

You offer him a shrug, smiling kindly, “You look like you could use one, is all. And as a thank you for putting up with me, I think it would be a perfect trade.”

Cloud huffs.

Thankful for the change in atmosphere, you (and Cloud) leave your mother with some parting words before heading back to the slums, much safer and friendlier than how you had arrived.

* * *

He’s not leaving yet and he insists so under your constant prodding, but you find Cloud in your bar a few days later asking for your very special parting gift in advance.

You set down the fruity glass of swirling blue and green, topped off with a small yellow flower specifically picked by Aerith herself; she mentioned that it had something to do with reuniting, “It’s called “The Merc”,” you grin, watching his cheeks roar aflame in bashfulness, “sweet but with a powerful kick.”

“And the flower?” He groans, plucking it off the top and holding it in between you both.

You pluck it from your fingers and set the short stem into the confines of his hair, watching, gratified, when the color blends in as perfectly as Aerith said it would. “It means you’ve got to come back and see me sometime after you leave. I know you’re Aerith’s bodyguard, but I’ll be in need of your services in the future too.”

“I’ll come back in the winter, how’s that?”

You hope he will. You really would like that. 


End file.
